THEY danced, ran, drove, sailed, dressed up in wacky costumes and even dunked themselves in custard for the cause.

Thousands of people across Hampshire joined forces to raise funds for Children in Need - and the sky was the limit with its superhero theme.

They were playing their part in the bid to beat the UK's total last year of £49.6 million.

Among those to go above and beyond the call of dutywere the 1,500 students and staff at Bitterne Park Secondary School in Southampton who spent the day modelling their superhero costumes at a fashion show, held a morning disco and all day a selection of Year 9 students were competing in a 16-hour sports marathon.

Assistant head teacher Chris Sykes estimated that the school had raised at least £3,000 and said: “The effort from everyone this year has been amazing, we have really raised the bar to pull off a great fundraising event and I'm so proud of all our students for getting stuck in.”

Daily Echo:

Bitterne Park Secondary School staff and pupils in costume

The money raised by schools, businesses, and residents across the county will support more than 2,500 projects in the country, like One Community in Eastleigh, who were given a grant of more than £65,000 for a project supporting carers between 8 and 11 years old.

Others rallying to raise money included staff at Carnival UK at its Southampton head office, who were busy manning the phones during appeal night taking donations from across the country.

Eight-year-old Evelyn Nagy performed to her friends and family at Shirley Warren Primary School, saying that she loves Children in Need and really wants to help improve their lives.

Their efforts, as well as hundreds of others, were added to the final fundraising amount during the appeal show.

At Little Haven care home in Dibden Purlieu, manager Sue Mahkzangi and health care assistant Katie Biddlecombe were dunked in a pool of custard.

Katie said: “It was lovely. We were sitting in the middle of a room in custard and people were paying to pour even more over our heads.

"It is a weird thing to do but it's for such a great cause. We should support these children and why not do something that makes people smile?”